5 things Loki hates about being Mortal (And how Tony made them better)
by orange-sunshiine
Summary: Series of one-shots set in an AU where Loki's powers are taken away after the events of the first Avengers movie. He returns to Midgard and he Tony end up in a relationship. This is probably OOC but I really wanted to write it.
1. Chapter 1

Sickness

Loki was dying. He was sure of it. His head hurt and it was hard to breathe. His throat was raw and he felt overly warm, just miserable in general.

He had never felt like this before, ever. It was awful. Yes, this was definitely the end.

Earlier in the day, when Tony had found Loki lying in bed, sweating and breathing through his mouth and looking like he had been hit by some type of super virus, he had insisted that Bruce examine him. That's where Loki was now – in the Medical Center, resting on a hospital bed while Bruce took his vital signs and asked him various questions.

Any minute now, Bruce was sure to give him the bad news. He wondered how Tony would take it. He, himself, could deal with dying, even if he didn't particularly want to right then, but his untimely demise would surely devastate his lover.

So when Bruce announced that Loki was suffering from a head cold, and that he would be fine in 2-3 days, Loki was shocked. And embarrassed. He had given in to something that Midgardians faced on a yearly basis! Tony hadn't laughed once, but Loki was sure that he was very amused.

Slowly, Loki made his way back up to the room that he and Tony shared. Tony followed behind, not saying a word. That was for the best, really. Loki wasn't sure that he could handle Tony mocking him or laughing at him right then. Injuries to Loki's pride were the worst kind of injuries, at least to him.

Sighing, Loki crawled into bed. He expected Tony to leave. He wasn't even sure why the inventor had followed him up.

And Tony did leave. Now alone, Loki had time to consider all that had happened. It didn't take long for him to feel even worse than he had before. It would only be a matter of time before the other Avengers found out about this, and then they would laugh and joke about it for days.

The sound of the bedroom door opening caught Loki's attention, bringing him out of his pessimistic thoughts. He glanced over to see Tony standing there, holding a tray of food.

"I brought you some hot tea and soup and some Nyquil," Tony explained, moving closer to the bed. He placed the tray on the end table and moved to help Loki sit up. Once the ex-god was situated properly, he placed the tray on Loki's lap.

"There's a few kinds of tea there," Tony said, as Loki looked over the various tea bags that were laid out. "And that's chicken soup. Usually helps when you have a cold. The Nyquil will help with some of the symptoms and will help you sleep."

Loki was stunned.

"You're not going to laugh at me?" He asked, very softly.

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"No. Why would I do that?"

Loki looked at him like he had six heads. Did he really have to spell this out?

"Because I thought I was dying of a cold."

"Oh. Well considering you were previously immortal, getting sick is new to you. No reason to laugh at it," Tony replied, seriously. "I just want to help you feel better."

Loki nodded and mumbled a 'thank you', feeling incredibly grateful for his wonderful boyfriend.


	2. Chapter 2

Death

Part of Tony's job as a billionaire philanthropist was visiting sick kids in the hospital. Usually, he wore one of the Iron Man suits as it made the kids happy.

Loki had begun accompanying Tony on these trips about a year into their relationship. By then, the press had thoroughly investigated the couple and the public was generally satisfied that Loki was trying to redeem himself.

On one of the trips, Loki made a friend. A little girl named Holly who was suffering from brain cancer.

Holly was a sweet, quiet girl. She had big brown eyes and freckles and tended to wear funny hats to hide her lack of hair. She liked to draw, and was very good at it. In fact, that was what drew Loki to her in the first place. He had noticed her drawing during one of Tony's visits and had asked to see her picture. It was fantastic. The ten year old had managed to capture Tony's smile perfectly.

Above all, Holly was brave. She and Loki quickly became friends, and he found himself admiring the girl's optimism. She never seemed afraid of what was to come. Even when the doctors finally decided that chemo wouldn't help anymore, that she only had a few weeks left, she never cried. She smiled. She kept going.

Loki visited her at least once a week. Usually, he bought her gifts. A new set of colored pencils one week, some fancy paper the next. Over time Holly's parents grew to like him and would tell him how excited Holly would get when she knew he was visiting.

One day, Loki showed up with some new crayons and a copy of the movie Up, as Holly had wanted to see it. But when he got to room 204, Holly wasn't there.

Her parents were, though. They looked like they had been crying. Holly's mother dried her eyes when she saw Loki enter.

"I know you're here to see her, but she went this morning…" she explained, as tears welled up in her eyes once again.

Instantly, Loki felt his heart break. He knew that things had gotten worse for her lately, but he hadn't really been prepared for this.

"She's… gone?" He asked, speaking very quietly.

He watched as Holly's father took hold of his wife's hand.

"It was peaceful," the man said, "She just said that she was going to sleep for a little bit and then she was gone. No pain or anything. Probably the first time in years that she wasn't in any."

Hearing that, Holly's mother began to cry harder.

Loki wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to cry, too. He really did. But he didn't feel right doing it in front of Holly's parents. They had lost their daughter, their loss was more significant than his was.

So, Loki left the crayons and dvd behind, and made his way back to Stark Tower. He managed to hold back until he made it into he and Tony's living quarters. Once there, though, he finally broke down.

Tony found him on the couch, eyes red and puffy, about an hour later. Loki had clearly been crying for quite a while.

Tony took a deep breath. He wasn't particularly good with stuff like this, but he would try.

"She passed?" he asked, sitting down next to Loki.

Loki nodded. "This morning. She went to sleep…" He trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Tony offered, "I know that you enjoyed spending time with her."

Loki nodded again, and Tony pulled him into a hug. Tony wasn't sure what else to say, but hopefully the physical contact would help.

And it did. A few second later, Loki began to cry again, holding on to Tony tightly.

"It's not fair," he sobbed, "She was innocent. She didn't deserve that!"

"I know it's not," Tony answered, rubbing his hands up and down Loki's back.

"I don't understand why… Why not someone else? Someone older? Someone who had… had done something terrible?"

"Life is just like that sometimes, Loki," Tony said, "It's not always fair."

Loki didn't say anything else. He cried for a while longer, until he finally felt drained. Tony continued to hold him for a while, though, and Loki was thankful for that.


	3. Chapter 3

Powerlessness

Since the other Avengers had come around and now liked Loki, much of the public did too. However, there were still some people who absolutely hated him.

Loki happened to run into three of these people one day while he was out.

The ex-god had been at a diner with Tony, and both had been minding their own business.

After finishing their meals, Loki had gone up to the cashier to pay the bill. Behind him on line were three young men. As soon as they saw who he was, they began to accost him.

"Hey, look, it's that jackass who tried to wreck the city!", one guy said.

Loki frowned. He knew where this was going.

"Someone ought to teach him a lesson about fucking with New Yorkers," another one added.

Loki didn't even get a chance to turn around. The third man pushed him before he could do that. Shoved him right against the counter and pinned him down.

Instead of helping him, the startled cashier took a step back and watched as the three men began to punch and kick Loki. Within seconds, one of them had picked him up and thrown him to the floor. He gasped for air as one of the guys kicked him in the stomach.

Right then, Loki wished that he had his powers. He would've easily been able to decimate his assailants. But now, being fully mortal, all he could do was hope that someone would help or that they would let up.

Soon enough a crowd began to gather around. Again, no one bothered to help. They all just stared, mumbling things under their breath.

"Piece... of... shit!", one of the men yelled, kicking Loki after saying each word.

The blows were powerful enough to make Loki throw up. At first he spit up some of the food he had just eaten, but then he began to vomit blood. What he would do for even _half_ of his power! That alone would've been enough.

Suddenly, the men stopped beating him. Loki curled up, trying to protect himself from when they might start again, but after a few seconds, nothing happened.

Slowly, Loki turned his head to look up. Tony was standing there, in full armor. The three men were subdued. Tony was holding one by the back of his shirt and had the other two on the ground.

It wasn't long before the police arrived to take the attackers into custody. Someone also called the paramedics.

As the EMTs looked Loki over, he wondered how it was that he hadn't noticed Tony gearing up, or how it was that he didn't even hear Tony beating the crap out of the men who had hurt him. Eventually one of the EMTs mentioned something about him having gone into shock.

The paramedics wanted to take Loki to the hospital, but Tony talked them out of it, explaining that he had his own medical center in the tower.

00

Bruce's eyes grew wide when he looked over Loki's injuries. Someone had clearly done a good job of beating the ever loving hell out of him.

"What happened?!" Bruce asked, scrambling to get his medical supplies. A few of Loki's cuts were bleeding, and he seemed to have blood smeared on his lips and chin.

"Three men attacked me while we were out," Loki answered.

"My god. I'm surprised they didn't kill you!"

"Yes, well, thankfully Anthony was there to save the day."

Tony looked at Loki and squeezed his shoulder gently.

Bruce rolled his eyes.

"_Please_ don't make some remark about Tony being your own personal hero," he said, cleaning off one of Loki's wounds.

Neither man answered, but Loki looked at Tony and smiled, and Bruce could tell that that was exactly what Loki was thinking.


	4. Chapter 4

A Changing Appearance

Loki had realized that once he became mortal, he would begin to age. He hadn't counted on other physical changes, though.

As a god, Loki never got sick. He also had an insanely fast metabolism. Loki could eat enough food for five men every night for a month and never gain an ounce.

Now that he was mortal, that had changed.

At first Loki hadn't really noticed anything besides the fact that he could not eat as much as he used to. His mortal body didn't allow it. Still, he continued to have a very large appetite, all considering. It wasn't unusual for him to eat two or three plates of food at breakfast and dinner. He routinely out-ate Steve, too, which was quite a feat.

About a month after losing his power, Loki noticed that his clothes were a little tighter. Not by much, just a little bit. He didn't think much of it. He figured that something had probably gone wrong with the wash.

At two months in, people started making comments. Mostly, they were nice comments. Natasha had noted that he looked healthier, as had Thor. Bruce mentioned something about him looking much better than he had when he had first returned to Midgard.

Then, three months in, Loki tried to button his jeans and found that he couldn't do it. It was then that he stripped down to his boxers and finally looked in the mirror. _Really_ looked. What he saw almost made him cry.

He wasn't fat, per se, but he was definitely bigger than he had ever been before. Whereas his stomach had been previously flat, it was now slightly curved. He couldn't see his rib bones anymore - that was a plus, maybe. His thighs were slightly thicker as were his arms.

He turned to his side, and pinched an inch of fat that had never existed prior.

Sighing, he went off to find a pair of sweat pants, hoping that those would fit.

00

Loki didn't really have much of a choice but to admit to Tony that he couldn't wear his jeans anymore, seeing as how he would need Tony's money to get another few pairs.

Tony had been very nice about it, saying that it wasn't a big deal. He sent out a staff member to buy Loki an entirely new wardrobe, too.

Though Tony didn't press the issue, Loki was still upset. He decided to ask the others if they had any tips about how to lose weight, or at least maintain it.

Natasha had been the one with the most knowledge, being a mortal herself without any superhuman strengths or powers. She had come up with a diet and exercise regime. A regime that would work, for someone like herself, who was already in great shape. For Loki... well, it didn't turn out so nicely. He struggled to run for the thirty minutes that Natasha had required, having to stop every few minutes to catch his breath. He may have been strong as a god, but as a mortal he was no better than most of the out of shape American population.

Finally, he began his final lap around the track, only to trip over his own feet. Several ice packs and an x-ray later, Bruce determined that he had a hairline fracture in his ankle. He would have to stay off his foot for six to eight weeks.

So that was the end of that. Loki didn't even bother trying the dieting part.

00

Eventually, Loki evened out. He was still pretty average looking. One wouldn't look at him and think anything more than that. He was pretty much okay with it too, now. It was only when Tony had planned a week long getaway in Aruba for the whole team that Loki reconsidered his physical appearance.

"I'm going to be the only one there who isn't fit," he said, as he watched Tony pack away his swimming trunks.

"You're fine, Loki-dokey," Tony replied.

"But everyone else will be great looking and then there'll be me," he said, sadly.

Tony shook his head. "No one is going to look at you and think anything bad. But if it makes you feel any better, a fit, handsome, genius billionaire philanthropist thinks you're gorgeous."

The comment made Loki smile.

"Actually, it does make me feel a bit better."

Tony grinned, and moved closer to Loki, pulling him into a hug.

"I love you just the way you are."

Tony planted a kiss on Loki's forehead, then kissed his lips as well.

Loki couldn't help but blush.

"Thank you, Anthony. I love you too."


	5. Chapter 5

Anxiety 

When Loki was a god, he almost never felt afraid. He couldn't really die, so that never crossed his mind. His family was immortal as well. And, being a prince, he never worried about having a place to live, or food to eat, or anything of that nature. He never even had to deal with others facing such problems – being royalty, he was kept away from those on the fringes of society, and so the possibility of losing everything was an extremely remote thought.

Life was different in New York, though. The death of Holly and his sickness had reminded Loki that he, too, would one day die. Getting beaten up reminded him that he might not even see his demise coming.

The city was also littered with examples of people who literally had nothing. Men and women sleeping on the streets, living under bridges for shelter, begging for money so that they could eat. These people were everywhere, and Loki encountered them every time he and Tony went out.

Thoughts about such things kept Loki awake at night. He laid in bed, wondering what would happen if Tony were to die before him. It was certainly possible – Tony faced danger constantly, and if some villain didn't get him, then the massive amount of stress that he placed on himself would.

What would Loki do, though? He didn't exactly have any marketable skills nor did he have any money of his own. Tony provided him with that. And while the other Avengers claimed to like him now, they might well abandon him if Tony were gone. It was hard to trust anyone else but Tony, really.

So then, would he be left on the street, clawing his way through each day and praying each night that the next would be easier? He wouldn't last long, that was for sure.

00

These thoughts had kept Loki up again, but this time he had managed to fall asleep at a decent hour. Tony was in his lab downstairs, so Loki was by himself.

It wasn't long before he started having a nightmare. Tony had gone into battle with the others, and Loki had watched him die. The next thing he knew, Bruce was gathering up his possessions and throwing them out a window, telling him to leave. He had even been prevented from going to Tony's funeral – Steve and Clint had kept him out, threatening to kill him if he showed up. He soon found himself lost and confused and unsure of where to go. The letters on the street signs blended together, and people threw rocks at him as he tried to find his way. He tried to protect himself from being hit, but he repeatedly failed. Then he saw a large group of people gather. They began to chase him, hurling stones at him the entire time.

Loki, of course, took off running. He ran for what felt like miles, but he ended up exactly where he had been before. He turned to see the crowd standing there, behind him, ready to kill him. He could feel his heart beating quickly – too quickly – and it was getting hard to breathe.

"Please," he begged, "I can't hurt you! Please let me be…"

The crowd didn't listen. Some of them smiled and mocked him, all of them moved forward.

And then, he felt someone shaking him. Loki cracked open his eyes to see Tony sitting next to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tony asked. He looked very concerned.

"I think so," Loki replied, sitting up. "What happened?"

"JARVIS alerted me that you were in distress so I came upstairs. You were crying and shaking and mumbling something. I figured you were having a nightmare so…" Tony trailed off. He reached out and wiped a tear from Loki's cheek.

Loki swallowed, then took a deep breath.

"I dreamed that you died, and the others cast me out to the streets, and then a group of people started chasing me and throwing stones at me… they cornered me and were going to kill me."

Tony frowned, and put his arms around his lover. Loki's breathing began to calm instantly.

"It was just a dream," Tony told him, holding him tightly.

Loki sniffled and nodded, not knowing what to say. He hoped that nightmares like this would not become routine.

"Is this the type of stuff that keeps you up?" Tony asked, once he was sure that Loki was calm.

Loki pulled back, surprised that Tony knew about that. He did his best to keep his fears to himself.

"How did you know?"

Tony shrugged. "Sometimes when I come up to bed early I can tell that you're still awake."

Loki sighed. "It worries me that you will leave… not by your own choice…but… if you were gone, I don't know what I'd do."

"I understand. You know that I would not let anything bad happen to you though, right?"

"If you were dead you wouldn't have much of a say in that now would you?" Loki replied.

Tony didn't know what to say to that. Loki was right, though.

"Would it make you feel better if I worked out some plans for if that were to happen? I promise that you will never be on the streets."

"It would, but it would be even better if you promised that you'll never go away."

"I'll do my best to stay here with you always Loki, I swear it."

Loki nodded again, and allowed Tony to help him lie back down. Feeling much better, Loki eventually fell asleep in Tony's arms.


End file.
